Larry Willis Quintet, George Coleman Quartet @ Jazz Forum!

Larry Willis Quintet
Larry Willis is a leading American jazz pianist and composer, who has performed in a wide range of styles, including jazz fusion, rock music, Latin music, Bebop and Avant-Garde. After his first year studying music theory at the Manhattan School of Music he began performing regularly with Jackie McLean. After he graduated he made his first jazz recording, McLean’s Right Now!, which featured two of Willis’ compositions. His first recording of any type, however, was as a singer with the Music and Arts Chorale Ensemble, performing an opera by Aaron Copland under the direction of Leonard Bernstein. He decided to concentrate on jazz because of the difficulties African American musicians had in finding work in concert music. He is still recording and touring around the world. Throughout his illustrious career he has performed with a wide range of musicians, including a stint of seven years as keyboardist for Blood, Sweat & Tears (beginning in 1972). Some of the other musicians he has played and recorded with include Dizzy Gillespie, Lee Morgan, Woody Shaw, Hugh Masekela, Cannonball and Nat Adderley, Stan Getz, Art Blakey, Art Taylor, Clifford Jordan, Carmen McRae, Shirley Horn, Richard “Groove” Holmes, Earl May, David “Fathead” Newman, Alphonse Mouzon and Carla Bley. Don’t miss the Larry Willis Quintet at the Jazz Forum feat. Josh Bruneau, trumpet, Steve Davis, trombone, Blake Meister, bass, and Billy Williams, drums.

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Klaus Mueller Quartet feat. Portinho
A jazz pianist of diverse influences and abilities, Klaus Mueller, was born in Germany and raised in Japan, Chile, and Brazil. He began piano lessons in Japan at the age of six. After graduating from Stuttgart University of Music and Performing Arts in 1998, he was granted a full scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service to further complete his studies at the New School in New York. He has been an integral part of the New York Jazz and Brazilian music scene, having performed and recorded with artists including Portinho, Ron Carter, New York Voices, Harry Allen, Leny Andrade, Paquito D’ Rivera, Steve LaSpina, Emilio Santiago, Marcos Valle, Toninho Horta, and Filó Machado. Tours and workshops have led him throughout the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom, Russia, and the Caribbean. Mueller is not only regarded as a fine keyboardist but also as an arranger, most notably for jazz piano legend Herbie Hancock, creating orchestral versions of songs from Hancock’s critically acclaimed “Gershwin’s World” album in collaboration with Robert Sadin in 2003. He also arranged music for the prestigious classical label Deutsche Grammophon, and worked as a musical director and accompanist for the opera singer and Tony Award-winner Paulo Szot. On Mueller’s 2012 album release Far-Faraway, he performed with jazz bassist Ron Carter and Brazilian drummer Portinho. His latest album Village Samba, released in 2016, features mostly original compositions interpreted by some of today’s finest Brazilian and New York-based musicians.

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Ray Blue Quartet
Ray Blue’s music can be described as a fusion of straight ahead jazz and rhythmic groove. Ray is a New York bred saxophonist, composer, arranger and educator who performs internationally. After receiving a graduate degree from the University of Iowa, Ray returned to New York, got re-connected on the scene and studied at the Jazz Mobile with Charles Davis, Stanton Davis and later with Paul Jeffrey, Charlie Lagond, Sonny Sharrock and Barry Harris. Some of his mentors include Arthur Blythe, Houston Person, Ornette Coleman and Benny Powell. Ray Blue is also a graduate of Wm. Penn University, which annually presents “The Ray Blue Jazz Award” since 2004 to a graduating senior. Ray released his first CD as a leader, Always with a Purpose, in 2001. Then came Ray Blue Live at Liars Theater in 2004 and “Ray Blue Live at Liars Theater 2 in 2005. In 2006 Ray released ‘Transvision’ on the Neu Klang label and Berries and Blues in 2010.

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George Coleman Quartet
NEA Jazz Master
A masterful improviser with an ear for both blues-informed lyricism and adventurous harmonics, saxophonist, composer, arranger, educator and NEA Jazz Master, George Coleman, is one of the most respected musicians to emerge out of the hard-bop era. With brilliant technique and a deeply soulful tone firmly rooted in his hometown of Memphis, Coleman has performed with many of the most legendary figures in Jazz and influenced countless saxophonists during his half-century in music.

Intrigued by the music of Charlie Parker, Coleman taught himself to play the alto saxophone. In 1952, at the age of 17, he got his first big break with blues guitarist B.B. King, touring and recording with him for several years. Coleman switched to tenor sax when King needed a tenor man in his band.

In 1956, Coleman moved to Chicago and joined Walter Perkins’ group MJT+3. In 1958, he attracted the attention of drummer Max Roach and was offered a position in his band, requiring Coleman to relocate to New York City. In 1959, he signed on with trombonist Slide Hampton’s octet, which afforded Coleman opportunities to tour Europe for the first time and develop his composing and arranging skills.

In 1963, Miles Davis came calling, and Coleman was soon part of the groundbreaking quintet that included Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams. In addition to the group’s four classic albums, Coleman also played on Hancock’s landmark Blue Note recording, Maiden Voyage.

After leaving Davis’ group, from 1964-74 Coleman freelanced as a composer and arranger for various musicians, such as Betty Carter, Chet Baker, Lionel Hampton, Lee Morgan, Elvin Jones, Charles Mingus, and Cedar Walton. He then began to focus on his own groups, working in quartet, quintet, and octet settings, and adding the soprano saxophone to his instrument repertoire. Coleman has played numerous times at the Jazz Forum, at festivals, in prestigious concert halls and top clubs around the United States and in Europe.

A winner of numerous honors and awards, Coleman has twice been presented the Key to the City of Memphis. In 1997, he received the Jazz Foundation of America’s Life Achievement Award, and in 2012, he was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame. See the George Coleman Quartet feat. Jeb Patton, piano, John Webber, bass, and Joe Strasser, drums at the Jazz Forum!

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Abelita Mateus Trio 
CD Release!
Abelita recorded the “Vivenda” project with the wonderful Romero Lubambo on guitar, Claudio Roditi on trumpet, Itaiguara Brandão on bass, Portinho on drums, Adriano Santos on drums and Phillip Gillette on percussion. She is also currently the pianist for the Dizzy Gillespie Afro-Cuban Experience, directed by Dizzy Gillespie alumnus John Lee. She has been performed recently at international venues including the Blue Note New York, The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, Yoshi’s Jazz Club in San Francisco, Ronnie Scott’s in London, the Luna Classics and Musig Am Zurisee Jazz Festivals in Switzerland, as well as various venues in São Paulo, Brazil. In the New York area, Abelita has performed recently with world-class musicians including John Lee, Claudio Roditi, Tommy Campbell, Sharel Cassity, Paquito D’Rivera, the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band, Peter Slavov, Alex Kautz, Matt Marantz, among others.

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Mark Sherman Quartet
Mark Sherman was a winner in the Downbeat Magazine’s Critics and readers poll from 2007-2017. Mark Sherman brings a deeply rooted post-bop approach to a program of originals and standards, which convincingly carry on the art form with a potent level of invigorating musicianship. His music is relentlessly energetic, hard-charging, and brimming with incredible improvisations from his deeply rooted skillset. In addition, Sherman has recorded 17 CDs as a leader, and over 150 CDs as a sideman. In 2011, he was given the honor of representing the United States on the US State Department /Jazz Ambassadors tour abroad with over 30 concerts and workshops in Russia, and Southeast Asia. He continues to carry on the Jazz tradition through playing and education as an 11-year Juilliard Jazz professor of Vibraphone. See the Mark Sherman Quartet feat. Joel Frahm, sax, John Webber, bass, and Joe Farnsworth, drums at the Jazz Forum!

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Gary Smulyan is critically acclaimed across-the-board and recognized as the major voice on the baritone saxophone. He is a six-time Grammy award winner for his work with B.B. King, Joe Lovano, Dave Holland and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra.

Acoustic bassist John Patitucci has performed throughout the world and as a studio musician with Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Pat Metheny, Wynton Marsalis, Astrud and Joao Gilberto, Joao Bosco, and Dori Caymmi. Since 1985, his many recordings with Chick Corea, Aeos Elektric Band and Akoustic Band, his six solo recordings for GRP Records, and his subsequent recordings have put him at the forefront of the Jazz world and brought him worldwide acclaim, as well as three Grammy Awards and over 20 Grammy nominations.

Al Foster, master drummer, has been a major innovator in the world of Jazz for several decades. As a member of the Miles Davis band for thirteen years, Foster’s contribution to Davis’ music is articulated by Davis himself in his 1989 autobiography, Miles: The Autobiography, where Davis describes the first time he heard Foster play live in 1972 at the Cellar Club on 95th Street in Manhattan: ‘He [Foster] knocked me out because he had such a groove and he would just lay it right in there. That was the kind of thing I was looking for. AI could set it up for everybody else to play off and just keep the groove going forever.”

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Samuel Martinelli Quartet
feat. Claudio Roditi
“Samuel Martinelli is one of the most talented musicians to come out of Brazil in recent times. His taste playing drums is impeccable, either playing Brazilian music or American Jazz. I have used him on most of my recent work and have been very happy with his performances.” – Claudio Roditi

Samuel Martinelli is a talented Brazilian drummer, composer and educator based in New York City. He has performed with notable musicians including, Alcione, Misha Steinhauer, Hendrik Meurkens, Marcus McLaurine, Tomoko Ohno, Nilson Matta, André J. Thomas, John Lee, M Maurice Peress, Itaiguara Brandao and Rob Block among many others. In 2018, he produced and recorded his first album as a leader which features Claudio Roditi on trumpet, Marcus McLaurine on bass and Tomoko Ohno on piano. The album, Crossing Paths, was released in May 2018 and received glowing reviews.

Brazilian trumpeter, Claudio Roditi, has fourteen critically acclaimed albums, a Grammy nomination and a busy international touring schedule that includes the most prestigious Jazz festivals in the world. A strikingly proficient technician, Roditi brings enormous zest and fire to his playing. Claudio integrates post-bop elements and Brazilian rhythmic concepts with ease and plays with power and lyricism. This versatility keeps him in demand as a leader, a studio musician and a sideman.

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Native Soul
feat. Peter Brainin, Noah Haidu, Marcus McLaurine & Steve Johns
A true musical collaboration, Native Soul brings together the experience and talent of these four extraordinary artists. Bass virtuoso Marcus McLaurine became a driving force in Clark Terry’s quintet and played for many years with Clark Terry’s quintet and big band. He has also shared the stage with Lou Donaldson, Hank Jones, Abbey Lincoln, the Count Basie Orchestra and Kenny Burrell. The exciting young pianist Noah Haidu is a rising star on the New York Jazz scene and an accomplished composer. His credits include gigs and recordings with Jeremy Pelt, Mike Stern, Duane Eubanks, Jon Irabagon, and Winard Harper. The brilliant saxophonist Peter Brainin is prolific in the Jazz and Afro-Cuban Jazz worlds. He has performed with Mongo Santamaria, Hilton Ruiz, Joey Calderazzo, Chico O’Farrill, and is a featured member of Arturo O’Farrill’s Grammy-winning Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra. Dynamic and hard-swinging drummer Steve Johns has worked with Sonny Fortune, Randy Brecker, Stanley Turrentine, Jimmy Heath, and Dr. Billy Taylor.

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